Moving to Massachusetts (Boston, Oxford, Florida: 2014, high school, campsites)

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

How familiar are you with English weather? Summers there are gorgeous and a lot of the beaches have turquoise water. Rarely gets up to 90F, more like 70s and mid 80s, and not very muggy either. Palm trees, flowers everywhere, beautiful green countryside all around. Winter is rainy and once in a while it snows an inch or two but it's not cold like it is here. They complain about their weather, of course, but if they had to live in our weather, they might just go back where they came from! I've seen more than a few of them come here and hate it because of our weather.

English weather is far from perfect. Constant gray, rain and drizzle. Summers can be on the cool side. Point is people adapt, and that Massachusetts is not an extreme climate. Maine and Minnesota are, so is Florida and Arizona. Definitely not Mass..

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by Hollytree

No surprise that older homes with quality materials and charm to which value can be added don't compute with you.

However, I agree with many of the posters, the OP's budget is low for the house size wanted within an hour of Boston and an international airport- not to mention a walkable neighborhood.

Holly do you have any idea how much it would cost to restore a massive old home like that (especially adding a whole kitchen)? And heat the place in the winter? OP did not indicate being up for a big project as part of this next move of theirs, and that asking price does not leave them a lot of room left to work with.

[Steed3003]

Thank you all for taking the time to make recommendations.

As an earlier poster mentioned, we are looking more than Massachussets, our search area covers from north Massachussets down to north Virginia. From the comments posted here and discussions we had on separate topics on options in other states, we understand Maryland or Pennsylvania will provide better options for our search criteria and our budget than Massachussets will, mostly because of the prices.

[tovarisch]

I do want to suggest (this may be petty) that the OP learn how to spell Massachusetts before moving here!

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

How familiar are you with English weather? Summers there are gorgeous and a lot of the beaches have turquoise water. Rarely gets up to 90F, more like 70s and mid 80s, and not very muggy either. Palm trees, flowers everywhere, beautiful green countryside all around. Winter is rainy and once in a while it snows an inch or two but it's not cold like it is here. They complain about their weather, of course, but if they had to live in our weather, they might just go back where they came from! I've seen more than a few of them come here and hate it because of our weather.

I get it, but many people adapt to their environments. What you are accustomed to isn't necessarily set in stone, and I presume they are moving here knowing the weather. People move here from Cali and many other places, some stay some leave. I just don't agree with the dismal picture you've painted about life in NE.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Steed3003

Thank you all for taking the time to make recommendations.

As an earlier poster mentioned, we are looking more than Massachussets, our search area covers from north Massachussets down to north Virginia. From the comments posted here and discussions we had on separate topics on options in other states, we understand Maryland or Pennsylvania will provide better options for our search criteria and our budget than Massachussets will, mostly because of the prices.

I think you will find that suburban Philadelphia has the best options at your price point. It’s an American Airlines hub so good service. It doesn’t have a morning LHR flight but there are overnight flights to the major European cities. You can use commuter rail to get to the airport though the every 30 minute service to the airport is less frequent than I’d prefer. You also have Amtrak service to Manhattan and Washington DC. Philadelphia Center City is fairly vibrant.

[Steed3003]

Pennsylvania definitely turned out to be nice surprise since we have indeed plenty of options within our requirements, same with Maryland. We're currently revewing options in North Virginia.

[wmass]

Northampton fits your requirements, budget, great dog park. BDL int airport about 40 minutes.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by Steed3003

Pennsylvania definitely turned out to be nice surprise since we have indeed plenty of options within our requirements, same with Maryland. We're currently revewing options in North Virginia.

Suburban Philadelphia would be ideal. (Disclaimer- I lived in Boston all my working years, and grew up outside Philly).

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

How familiar are you with English weather? Summers there are gorgeous and a lot of the beaches have turquoise water. Rarely gets up to 90F, more like 70s and mid 80s, and not very muggy either. Palm trees, flowers everywhere, beautiful green countryside all around. Winter is rainy and once in a while it snows an inch or two but it's not cold like it is here. They complain about their weather, of course, but if they had to live in our weather, they might just go back where they came from! I've seen more than a few of them come here and hate it because of our weather.

The British weather is the reason why millions of brits spend their free time in Spain and Italy.